It's not like you can just flip a switch once you realize you have a problem. It's great that your friends were able to break free from their addiction, but the

It's not like you can just flip a switch once you realize you have a problem. It's great that your friends were able to break free from their addiction, but there are an infinite amount of factors that can (and do) prevent others from doing so. In many cases, one second of weakness is enough to fall back into addiction after years of sobriety. Logically, sure, you recognize a problem, and you work hard to get rid of it. And many people are able to do that. But this wouldn't be a worldwide epidemic if a hard choice were the only thing standing in the way.